I don’t love the original Pet Sematary (1989), but it has its moments. That said, I was against this reboot maybe even more than I was against the It reboot. However, It turned out to be an incredible work of horror and I eagerly await the next installment. So I was open-minded that this new Pet Sematary could be decent or even good.

Dislikes:

The movie is fairly simple and slow, so after the initial development of tone, character, and story, the movie begins to quickly drag. The movie melts slowly like a candle except I would argue a melting candle may be more entertaining at times.

It builds up this atmosphere but never seems to use it to its full potential.

The characters do some unusual things that really only work because this is a horror movie. Like, people know what terrible things will happen, but do it anyway.

Others act very much out of character after a while.

The movie wraps up its third act a bit too quickly and cleanly (in a sense). Things are a little too easy and happen too quickly. There is no building up to these moments.

In the end, the scriptwriting is the issue with this film.

Likes:

Normally, a lot of mainstream horrors has some terrible acting performances. This movie however the acting is very much above average on nearly all areas. Jonathan Lithgow, in particular, delivers a strong presence in this film.

The best Stephen King film adaptations have a sense of atmosphere to them. They envelop you in this unique and terrifying world. I feel that this movie does this. It has substance to it and doesn’t feel like a glossy half-baked Hollywood film.

Yeah so generally I don’t do spoilers, but Pet Sematary is pretty simple and if you don’t know certain things in the next paragraph, you may perceive them as spoilers, so beware.

I still like the overall story of this movie. Like many of Stephen King’s work, it discusses some real-world situations that can be very traumatic for people. In this case, it is the loss of innocence, loss of a child, It talks about grief and great loss. How it affects us and changes who we are and what we become. There is a lot of symbolism within this story and some of that does come through.

While I found the first half to be tedious, the second half had a quicker pace and definitely felt more like what I was hoping for. Although the wrapup was still too quick for my liking.

Conclusion:

The new Pet Sematary has a good atmosphere to it, the visual aspects of the film and the overall acting are positives. However, it fails to deliver the excitement many including myself would have hoped for. It’s far from the worst horror movie of this year, but nowhere near the best.

The Ladder

Horror Movies of 2019/Pet Sematary movies Please note I have yet to see Us (2019)

One thought on “Pet Sematary (2019) Review”

I agree that it wraps up too quickly. I loved Jon Lithgow in it, and Jason Clarke was good too, but man, that third act hits fast and feels like such an unsatisfying conclusion. My dad, who was too afraid to rewatch the original Pet Sematary, thought this remake wasn’t scary at all. I beg to differ, man. I was pretty freaked out at times!